AARP health insurance

[RVcrazy]

We are considering changing our health insurance from Regence Med Advantage to United through AARP. We are FT & spend time in AZ not covered for anything routine on Regence. They are great when there is an accident or medical emergency. They have specialists on the plan. Since United only pays for Dr care that accepts Medicare, we are wondering what experience you have had finding Drs that will take Medicare as you travel. Thanks!

[ItsyRV]

ScottG wrote:
It's also true that they are an ins. company that many people are happy with.

Just a minor correction, AARP is not an insurance company. They have no insurance licenses. They offer AARP name "branded" insurance products through actual insurance companies. The use of the AARP name in that product is to differentiate it from the other offerings from that insurance company.

[Michelle_S]

If you're in need of Prescription Meds, make sure you check the United plans, I thought about switching to them, but they won't cover my high costs meds, so I'm staying with Florida Blue PPO.

[bgum]

Merry by all means keep your coverage. I'm surprised it doesn't cost $142 a month.

[Thunder_Mountai]

All politics aside. I will say that the AARP membership with its "discounts and other perks" is useless except for the supplemental health insurance. When I was about to turn 65, I asked the person in charge of billing at my PCP office which supplemental was the easiest for her to work with and took the best care of their patients. She said United Health Care through AARP. I also talked with a friend who is two days younger than me who took care of the health insurance for a major non profit we worked for before retiring. She said she was going with AARP.

Medicare is Medicare. United Health Care has taken excellent of me and the wife. If Medicare covers it, United/AARP takes care of the remainder. The wife recently had back surgery. The charges for the hospital and surgeon were over $36K. Not that they got that much, but the total she paid including rehab was ZERO. Had my knee scoped in November, same out of pocket. Yes, it is about $200 a month a piece plus the Medicare premium, but that is a heck of a lot less than we were having to pay for our employer provided health insurance.

We also picked the AARP supplement because of its portability out of state.

[Merrykalia]

DH and I both have Medicare and the United Healthcare (AARP) supplement. It costs us $42/month and is going to $33/month in January. We have never had a problem with them paying. My own PCP costs nothing, specialists are $35/visit, most tests (blood work, xrays, etc.) are covered at about 80%. I have a $160 outpatient surgery premium, a $75 emergency room visit and $180/day inpatient hospital fee for the first 7 days, then it's 100$. (I figure they will sure try to get me out of there in 7 days and I'm pretty okay with that).

We have re-upped every year for the last 5 years.

[Big_Katuna]

I have gotten good info from AARP not related to insurance. It’s where I learned you can invest IRA money in rental and investment properties. No financial advisor I had ever talked to informed me of that.

And everyone has lobbyists; carmakers, unions, ag, guns, animal rights, medical industry. It’s the way DC works.

Heck I heard this last week; six of the ten richest counties in the US are around DC.

Which I think sucks.

[ScottG]

bgum wrote:
Yes Scott but only AARP has dues to represent their interests. I'm not commenting on their insurance but rather the practice of charging dues to "belong " and the espousing views not held by the membership. Also stating they represent thousands of RP when in fact they represent themselves. Their insurance rates and coverage are competitive.

No different than belonging to Allstate, Farmers or anyone else. You give them money, they provide ins. and use the profits to hire lobbyist. Sure they make out like it's some kind of club but it's all just marketing.

We've actually found AARP car ins rates to be higher than most - at least for us.

I understand you don't like them because they are a liberal company and that's fine - they are that. (would you be against them if they were conservatives with lobbyist?).
It's also true that they are an ins. company that many people are happy with.

[Sam_Spade]

scbwr wrote:
My wife and I are both on a United Health Care Plan and have used it while traveling without a problem.

Us too. But ours is through a State retirement system and might be different than the AARP variety.

[ScottG]

My Dad was on AARP ins and could not have been happier with it - and that's saying something. They covered his bypass surgery and related expenses that he would have had to pay out of pocket with just his Medicare.
Some don't like their politics and will make negative comments based solely on that.
The reality is they serve their customers well.

[bgum]

I worked closely with Medicare for 32 years. Most doctors and hospitals accept Medicare coverage. What would we do without it? It became law in 1966. It does not pay for all medical bills. Very quickly private insurance companies jumped on the wagon to sell insurance to cover in part those bills that Medicare did cover. Boy are they slick. Medicare pays 80% of part B Covered expenses. Private insurance at most pays for 20% of the part B covered expenses. Private insurance costs at least 1 1/2 times what Medicare costs and only pays 20% . Their administrative costs are very low as Medicare has determined coverage and what 80% is All they need to do is cut a check. AARP is nothing but an insurance company that advocates for its companies. They will collect your dues to advocate for their selves. There is a sucker born every minute.

[scbwr]

My wife and I are both on a United Health Care Plan and have used it while traveling without a problem. When getting a supplementary plan, keep in mind that the coverage for a given plan (we chose the F plan option) is the same no matter what company provides it. So, research and/or get advice on what plan will meet your needs, then get rate quotes from several companies to see who has the best price. AARP United Health Care has very competitive rates, especially in the early years of coverage due to their discount which gradually diminishes. And, they also give a discount for married couple status.

We have not had any problems with insurance claims or billing issues. But if at a given point I discover that I can get the same coverage at a lower price from another reputable insurance company, I wouldn't hesitate to change

AARP may be considered liberal, but if you are concerned about social security and medicare benefits, then you need to appreciate their presence even if you don't agree with all of their viewpoints.

Moderator...if I've gotten too political with this response, please feel free to delete this post. I don't intend my response to be "political".

[Big_Katuna]

We pay United $20 something a month for prescriptions. Most of ours are free to $4/ mo.

[janstey58]

Has anyone tried the FMCA health insurance and if so your opinions on that one? I just talked to them and their rates are very competitive.

[DutchmenSport]

My mother is on Medicare and has a supplemental AARP insurance with United Health Care. Her premiums are $225 a month. Now if you can afford that, that means your premium will be $2,700 a year, and she has the bare bones, it does not cover prescriptions.

I'm sorry, I'm very soured on United Health Care. I'm my mothers Power of Attorney, and they just suck to deal with.